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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22441474">La Rouge</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/seulreneults/pseuds/seulreneults'>seulreneults</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Red Velvet (K-pop Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Domestic Violence, F/F, Multi, Murder</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 04:59:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>12,813</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22441474</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/seulreneults/pseuds/seulreneults</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A sisterhood of women who other women enlist to go around and kill men who are rapists and abusers. One day, a woman enlists them to murder a cop, but Yeri messes up during the crime and the police begin to suspect the cult of women known as 'La Rouge'.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bae Joohyun | Irene/Kang Seulgi/Kim Yerim | Yeri/Park Sooyoung | Joy/Son Seungwan | Wendy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>87</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. the darkest night</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>so i'm not a very good writer but i really wanted to give this fic a shot because i felt pretty passionate about it so...i hope my writing doesn't make you cringe too hard.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>On a chilly October night, a woman runs through an empty park. Everything in the park is still and silent, except for the clack of her shoes and the heaving of her breath. She runs until she reaches a bakery on the southernmost end of the park and walks inside. She's out of breath, and her heavy breathing and exhausted yet agitated demeanor draw the attention of other patrons in the small shop. Realizing this, she quickly scurries to the back of the store and sits down at an empty table for two. She checks her phone and sees that it's 9:28 pm. She also sees that she's received two text messages:</p><p>Logan: What you did was unacceptable</p><p>Logan: Be home by 12 or you'll be sorry</p><p>Her stomach forms a tight knot. She sets her phone down and looks around nervously. He has to show, she thinks. He wouldn't leave me here alone, he has to come. </p><p>Suddenly, as if on cue, a tall, broad man enters the bakery. He scans the store, making eye contact with the woman. He quickly walks to the back of the store and sits down across from her. She reaches across the table and grabs his arm tightly. "You scared the shit out of me," She hisses. The man sighs deeply, shaking her wrist off and beginning to remove his coat. "I'm sorry, you called so suddenly that I had to drop everything in a hurry to get here."</p><p>The woman relaxes, leans her head into her hands, and begins to cry softly. "God dammit, I don't know what to do anymore," She says weakly, her voice cracking. The man reaches across the table and gently takes her hand into his, his eyes filled with sorrow.</p><p>"I can't take any more of this shit, I'll be dead before I'm thirty if I keep living like this," She says sadly, looking up at the man with tear-filled eyes. The man gives her a commiserating look as he watched the woman crumple onto the table, sobbing softly. As she cried, the man turned to reach into his coat pocket. "You know," He starts, fishing a shiny red business card, "I know you shot it down before, but I really think it's time for you to consider all of your options."</p><p>The woman straightens up, sniffles, and wipes away her tears. "What are you saying?" He slides the shiny red business card across the table to her. "You should really consider La Rouge."</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>"Yeri!" Irene screams from the kitchen while cleaning off the counter. She's a grown woman yet I'm still packing lunches for her, she thinks to herself. She should be annoyed that Yeri still wants her to make her lunch every morning, but she isn't. It's one of the few things left that reminds her Yeri's still a little girl. She hears Yeri's unmistakable footsteps coming down the stairs and she grabs the bag quickly and turns around to present it to her.</p><p>As Yeri enters the kitchen, Irene curtsies dramatically and exclaims, "Your Highness,". Yeri rolls her eyes but smiles. "God you're so weird unnie, I stopped asking people to call my princess years ago," She says, grabbing the paper bag from Irene's hands and setting it on the table. </p><p>Irene smiles, "I know but it was so cute, I just can't get over it," She says reaching forward and pinching Yeri's cheeks while Yeri tries to slap her hands away. Yeri sighs deeply but smiles, "I'm a grown woman now unnie, you have to stop babying me." Irene pouts but pulls Yeri in for a hug. "I know, you're all grown and mature now, but you'll always be my little sister," She whispers into Yeri's ear.</p><p>Yeri sighs deeply. She wants to be annoyed with her older sister, but she can't. And she knows how much that nickname means to Irene. It was part of one of the few good moments they shared growing up. Yeri pulls back from the hug and looks at her big sister fondly. She takes Irene's hands into hers, "I love you, unnie," Irene smiles back and grips her hands a little tighter, "I love you, too,"</p><p>Yeri lets go of Irene and grabs the lunch she made her and her purse hanging on one of the table's chairs. "I have a session today," </p><p>Irene nods. "What time will you be back?" </p><p>Yeri played with her necklace, and looked up at the ceiling, trying to recall. "Don't know, it's a new client so I could be a while," She replied, opening her purse and putting the lunch Irene made her inside. Yeri checks her phone to see she has fifteen minutes before she's late.</p><p>"Alright I've gotta go, tell the other girls I'll be back later," Irene trails Yeri as she walks out of the kitchen and towards the front door. Just before walking out the door, Yeri suddenly turns around one last time. "I love you, unnie," she says, smiling softly. </p><p>Irene smiles a big toothy grin. "I love you too."</p><p>Yeri steps out of the door and then pauses, "Oh, don't forget it's game night tonight, and you can't bail on us like last time, got it?" Yeri says pointing and shaking a menacing finger at her. </p><p>Irene sighs dramatically but cracks a smile. "Will do,"</p><p>Yeri shoots her one last smile and closes the big wooden door to their house.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Yeri loves Autumn.</p><p>Living in Los Angeles meant she didn't really get to experience the weather change, but she loved the different seasonal trends that resurfaced with fall. The different types of coffee flavors, the fashion trends, the scented candles, she loved it all. So as she walked through the park to her favorite bakery, she took a moment to breathe in the fresh air and take in the beautiful day. She had finished prepping client work early, Irene had packed her favorite for lunch, and later tonight she'd be playing all of her favorite stupid board games with Irene and the other girls. It seemed like nothing could bring down her good mood.</p><p>She reaches the southernmost corner of the park where the bakery she’s meeting her client at is and walks in. As she enters, she breathes in the smell of freshly baked goods. She's tempted to buy one of the muffins she sees the bakers taking out of the oven, but she decides against it. It wouldn't be professional to eat during a session anyways.</p><p>Yeri scans the dining area for a good spot to sit. Luckily, it's not too busy and her favorite table in the far left corner near the front window is free. She walks over, sits down, and waits for her client to arrive.</p><p>About ten minutes later, she hears the door of the bakery open and she looks up. A tall woman with dark hair and pale skin walks into the store. Her eyes scan the store until she lands on Yeri, and she waves hesitantly. Ah, so this must be my client, Yeri thinks to herself, waving back. She looks relatively old to need a tutor, but Yeri doesn't judge. The woman looks to be around her mid to late twenties, and they occasionally get clients in grad school who need a tutor. </p><p>The woman walks to the table, fidgeting with her hands the whole time. She reaches the table and sits down, giving Yeri a shy smile. "Hello," she says timidly.</p><p>"Hi! I'm Yeri, I'm with The Red Check, today I'm going to help you fill out our paperwork and help you figure out which one of our tutors would be best for you," she smiles. Yeri turns to pull out the paperwork but the woman reaches across and touches Yeri's hand lightly. She straightens up and looks at the woman, confused and sort of unsettled.</p><p>"Um," She starts, her voice quiet and shaky, "That's not what I'm here for," Yeri's eyebrows furrow, but she motions for the woman to continue.</p><p>The woman's eyes dart around nervously. She turns around and scans the store, presumably to see if someone is watching them too closely. Aside from Yeri and the woman, there are only four other people in the store. One is busy on their laptop, the other is consumed in a book, and the other two are chatting and laughing, paying no attention to either of them.</p><p>The woman turns around slowly. Looking at Yeri nervously, she reaches into her pocket. "I heard about your group from a friend," She says and places a shiny red business card on the table. Yeri stiffens. She looks up at the woman, and then down at the card. </p><p>"What friend?" Yeri asks impassively. She needs her to say the name or she'll sound the alarm. "I heard about it from the third cop," The woman says quietly. Yeri mentally breathes a sigh of relief and then looks the woman in the eye.</p><p>"And why do you need the help of my group?" Yeri asks her, staring her down. She'll know if she's lying or not. The woman turns around again to make sure no one is listening, then turns back to Yeri and leans across the table.</p><p>"Please help me, my boyfriend is going to kill me and I don't know what else to do," She pleads, quietly and desperately. She pulls down the collar of her shirt to reveal an array of bruises all over her chest. She then reaches into her pocket and pulls out three giant wads of cash, once again turning around to make sure no one is looking. She turns back to Yeri, whose eyes are wide with interest and surprise. The woman pushes the cash towards her. </p><p>"The only one who can help me is La Rouge."</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>"Who's turn is it to do dishes today?"</p><p>"Not mine, I did it yesterday"</p><p>"No you didn't, I did it yesterday!"</p><p>"You offered to help me do it, that doesn't count!"</p><p>"Why don't we just force Yeri to do it?"</p><p>All the chatter suddenly stops. </p><p>"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,"</p><p>Irene rolls her eyes but smiles. Yeri hated being fall guy simply because she was the youngest and the girls definitely expected protest from the youngest when she got home. Joy was always the one to suggest Yeri as a scapegoat, and she was sure they'd have it out. They really needed to just buy a washing machine so the bickering over who had to wash the dishes would stop.</p><p>"It's a wonder Yeri puts up with any of us," Wendy smiled.</p><p>"What are you talking about? We're great unnies to her," Joy scoffs dramatically.</p><p>"Oh Yeri would eat you up for saying that if she was here," Wendy says, rolling her eyes playfully.</p><p>After finishing their lunch, the girls began to disperse from the kitchen. Irene was busy collecting all of their plates and silverware from the table when she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see Seulgi smiling kindly.</p><p>"Joohyun unnie, I just want you to know that I'm here for you if you need me, we all are," Irene furrowed her eyebrows. Almost nobody called her that anymore and hearing it made her uncomfortable. But she forced a smile to keep herself from seeming hostile.</p><p>"I know that, but I don't know why you're saying this now," She replied, turning her back to Seulgi and walking over to the sink. Seulgi sighed and leaned against the counter next to Irene as she rinsed off the dishes. "Unnie, I saw your laptop last night."</p><p>Irene froze. Shit. </p><p>"I saw you looking for plane tickets again." Irene groaned. She wanted to scold Seulgi for snooping and looking at her laptop, but she remembered she let Seulgi borrow it last night, so she had no one to be mad at but herself for not being careful enough. </p><p>"Paris? Really unnie?" Seulgi frowned, "Of all the places to run off to,"</p><p>"Well I've always wanted to go to Paris," Irene smiled factitiously, "and I feel like I'd fit right in,"</p><p>"Unnie stop joking," Seulgi scowled, now visibly angry. Now Irene was worried. Seulgi rarely ever got angry, and when she did, it was always for a good reason, and it was always terrifying. "I just don't understand you, I thought you were doing so well these past months. We all did! You were making so much progress only for me to find out that back to planning to run off and change your identity again."</p><p>Irene spins around to face Seulgi, now angry as well. "Seulgi don't you dare go there. You know the reason I had to the first time and I thought you of all people would be the last person to judge me for that." </p><p>Seulgi's face softens, and she sighs. "I'm sorry unnie, I know that wasn't fair of me, but you know what I mean."</p><p>Now Irene's face softens as well. She turns back to the sink, leans her hands against it, and breathes out air she didn't realize she was holding in. Seulgi places her hand over Irene's. Irene looks up expecting to see Seulgi looking disappointed or concerned, but she just looks sad. Seulgi squeezes her hand, and suddenly Irene feels horrible.</p><p>"Unnie, we all know you've been through so much, and we understand that you're still processing it, and I never want to make you feel like you should just 'get over' your past," Seulgi says quietly. Irene lowers her head and squeezes her eyes shut, trying desperately not to cry.<br/>
"But I need you to understand," Seulgi continues, "That running away isn't going to help you."</p><p>Fuck, Irene begins to cry. Seulgi pulls her into a huge as Irene softly cries. "I know it's hard to talk about, but I'm here, for you, and so are the other girls. We love you unnie and we want to help you, but you have to let us in." Irene only cried harder. The last thing she ever wanted to do was make Seulgi, Joy, Wendy, or Yeri feel like they weren't good enough for her. They had been her pillars of support for so many years and had brought stability and happiness into her life that Irene never thought she would have. </p><p>"It's just so hard," Irene sniffled. Seulgi began to stroke her hair. "It's like some days I feel fine, and then I see or hear something that takes me back there and it's like I'm living this never-ending nightmare," She sobs harder. "I just feel like one day I'm gonna spiral out of control and lose it one day, and you and the rest of the girls are gonna have to lock me in a mental institution,"</p><p>Seulgi pulls always from Irene and puts her hands on Irene's cheeks. "Unnie that'll never happen, you know it won't," She says firmly. </p><p>"But I don't know that and you don't know that either. I'm the oldest, I'm supposed to take care of you guys, but I can't even be near man without having a fucking panic attack." Irene cries. </p><p>"Unnie," Seulgi said softly. Irene looked over expecting to see a look of pity on her face, but now Seulgi was crying along with her. Irene pulled Seulgi into a hug and Seulgi hugs her back so tightly she almost can’t breathe. </p><p>"I never want you to think of yourself like that," Seulgi whispers to Irene, voice shaking. Irene hugged her tighter. "You've sacrificed yourself for us so many times, you've changed all of us into better people, hell if it wasn't for you I'd be dead." </p><p>Irene pulled back from the hug to look at Seulgi. Even though she was sad, she couldn't help but coo at how cute Seulgi looked. Her eyes and cheeks her puffy and her nose was red. Irene cupped Seulgi's cheeks in her hands and Seulgi placed her hands on Irene's wrists. "I love you unnie, and you're never getting rid of me," Seulgi sniffled, smiling despite the tears rolling down her face. Irene giggled and pressed their foreheads together.</p><p>"You're an amazing person, you deserve the world and I'll do everything I can to give it to you," Seulgi breathes, making eye contact with Irene. Irene's thankful that her face is already red so it conceals her blush. "I love you too, and I'll do everything I can to protect you," Irene smiles back.</p><p>Seulgi smiles back and Irene lets go of her face to pull her into another hug. Once they pull away Seulgi grabs her hands. "I have to run some errands but I'll be back soon, Wendy and Joy are here if you need them." Irene remembers them and gets nervous. "Will you tell them what you found? On my laptop, I mean." Irene says, pulling her hands away to play with her hair nervously.</p><p>Seulgi gives her a knowing look. "I won't tell them unnie, but you have to promise if you have those thoughts again to come to one of us. We want to help you, please let us be there for you," Seulgi says, her tone growing more serious.</p><p>They hug one last time before Irene walks Seulgi to the door. She waves goodbye to Seulgi as she gets in her car and pulls out of the driveway. After she drives off, Irene wanders back into the kitchen and leans against the counter, looking out of the window over the sink. She wants to open up to the girls. She really does. But after everything that happened to her, vulnerability wasn't an option for her. And after meeting these girls, after creating a life with them, she was scared of she would lose it all. She was scared the minute she relaxed and let her guard down, that someone would come along and steal the happiness and goodness in her life away from her. She didn't want anyone to hurt her again, and she doesn't know if she can let anyone, even the girls she loves most in the world, come within such close proximity to her fears. For her sake, and theirs.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Irene oftentimes found herself wondering if she'd be better off if everything had been different. Whenever the girls forced her to watch whatever superhero movie they were obsessed with she often focused on the villain, and found herself analyzing the character. Most of the villains had tragic and horrible backstories filled with pain and suffering that were meant to serve as the explanation as to why the villain became the villain. But Irene often thought about if it was really all that trauma that caused the villain to be the villain. What if it was just predetermination, and nothing, not even the perfect childhood and a happy life could keep the villain from becoming the villain? What if they were just meant to be evil from the very beginning? What if whether or not they had a good or bad backstory didn’t matter at all?</p><p>She found herself thinking about this concept a lot in relation to her own life. Would she have been better off if she hadn't had such a horrible backstory? Or was she doomed to suffer from the start?</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Irene and Yeri are sisters. They were born and raised in South Korea. Irene is eight years older than Yeri, and they lived with their mother and father. Their parents were amazing. They were kind, loving, and caring people. Yeri didn't have too many memories of their family, but Irene did. She remembered loving her parents more than anything.</p><p>Their father was diagnosed with lung cancer when Irene was ten and Yeri was two. By Yeri's third birthday their father was gone. Their family was broken. Irene missed her father terribly. Yeri was still too young to understand what happened to him. Irene's mother was stricken with grief. Irene loved her mother, and whenever she remembered her she always tried to focus on the best memories of her, the ones where she let Irene help her bake, read bedtime stories, and kissed her scratches and bruises from playing outside.  But she couldn't help but be angry at her mother for what she did next. </p><p>Her father's body wasn't even cold before their mother began to date a new man. Irene knew her mother was lonely, and missing her father, but she couldn't help but be furious that her mother replaced him so quickly. Irene despised her mother's boyfriend, and with good reason. He was a bottom feeder, an alcoholic, and emotionally abused Irene, Yeri, and her mother. Irene didn't realize until she was older that her mother stayed with him because she had been manipulated and that she couldn't bear to be alone after the death of their father.</p><p>As Irene got older, her hatred for him grew more and more, and she got bolder in defending herself, Yeri, and her mother against his insults and manipulation. When Irene was seventeen she decided she had had enough of him. She and Yeri went to her mother and begged her to break it off with him. Yeri was nine and she was old enough and smart enough to recognize that he was bad news as well. As they were begging their mother to let him go, he overheard their conversation and entered the room. He was livid and began interrogating their mother about whether or not she was actually considering her daughter's pleas. Her mother tried to convince him that she wasn't but he didn't buy it and took his anger out on her. It was then that Irene found out that along with being an emotional abuser that he was also a physical abuser.</p><p>Irene felt more helpless than she did after her father died. She wanted to defend her mother, and she was willing to take beatings from him. But when he threatened Yeri, she had to back down. Yeri needed her protection more than ever now, so she simply watched as the bruises on her mother's face and body grew more numerous. Her mother refused to call the police, as she was completely under his control. Irene realized her mother was a lost cause. She would never leave him and she left Irene and Yeri to fend for themselves. It was up to Irene to protect herself and Yeri.</p><p>When Irene was eighteen, she devised a plan. For years she had always been in charge of the money in her family. Her mother and her boyfriend knew very little about managing money, while Irene's father had taught her the basics before he died. She had secretly been taking money from her mother and her boyfriend for years and putting it in a savings account she had created for herself and Yeri. She had also worked constantly ever since she was thirteen, making money wherever she could and putting it away for when she really needed it. She made sure to hide any money she had, because she knew if her mother's boyfriend found it he'd claim it as his own, and there would be nothing Irene could do about it. </p><p>When she checked her savings she realized that she had a lot of money. Enough to pay part of her way through college, and to take Yeri with her. Irene decided to apply to a university in America and planned to take Yeri along with her. When she told Yeri her plan, Yeri tearfully agreed to go with her. Irene pulled Yeri into a hug. Yeri was a smart girl, she knew how horrible her mother's boyfriend was, but she was also a child. She was leaving behind everything she'd ever known. And Irene realized that she'd miss parts of her life here too. Despite her childhood being marked by tragedy and having to fend for herself from a young age, she loved her mother, and it broke her heart that she would have to leave her behind with her monster of a boyfriend. </p><p>It was crucial that her mother and her boyfriend didn't know their plan, or else they'd never make it out of their house alive. So in the months closing in on their plan to escape, Irene began prepping everything. She began to work constantly, finding odd jobs wherever she could to make sure they had enough funds, and she took one last loan from her mother's bank account. She slowly and subtly packing up her and Yeri's belongings, and anytime her mother or her boyfriend questioned her she always had an excuse ready. She also secretly set up her own account with the money from her savings and got herself a new phone. </p><p>Irene knew that as soon as her mother's boyfriend realized they were gone, he'd contact the police. She had done a lot of research about how the police handle missing person cases to know that the first thing they would do was check their bank account to track any transactions and check their phone plan to track their calls and texts. She didn't want any chance of them being tracked down, so she took every precaution to make sure they wouldn't be caught.</p><p>On the night of their escape, Irene woke Yeri in the middle of the night to go. Irene had rented a car that she had parked down the street, and they had to carefully and quietly pack everything into the car to drive to the airport. They had a two am flight to catch and Irene didn't want any chance of possibly missing it. She and Yeri quietly snuck in and out of the house, packing their belongings into the car. </p><p>They were almost ready to go when Irene realized she had left her phone in the kitchen. She walked back up to the house, and carefully stuck her head in the doorway to check if they had possibly woken anyone up. When she thought the coast was clear she quickly tiptoed to the kitchen to grab her phone of the counter. Just as she turned to leave she felt a hand grab her arm roughly. She gasped as the hand spun her around to face her mother's boyfriend. At first, he looked tired and confused, but as he took in Irene, who was fully dressed, and the open door behind her his demeanor began to change. He demanded to know what she was doing and where she was planning to go at this time of night. Irene tried to stumble her way through an explanation but she knew she'd been caught. There was no way for her to explain herself in a way that would calm his anger. </p><p>He interrupted her explanation by grabbing her arm again and dragging her back to her empty bedroom, claiming she wasn't going anywhere. When he opened her bedroom door and saw that her room was completely devoid of all her belongings he grew even angrier.</p><p> Irene felt like she was going to throw up. She knew that he had realized what she was doing, and she debated just surrendering and giving up. But she began to think of Yeri. How Yeri had almost no memories of their real father, how the last seven years of her life had been tainted by death and abuse, how the only father figure she ever had was her mother's shitty boyfriend. So when he went to grab Irene again she punched him square in the nose. He stumbled back, groaning in pain, but lunged for her again. When he got close enough, Irene put her hand on his shoulders and kneed him right in the groin. He crumpled to the ground, hands covering his crotch and howled in pain. Irene was finally grateful she was forced to take self-defense in high school. Now that he was down, she quickly ran to the kitchen, grabbed her phone, and ran back to the door. She could hear him screaming curses at her but they didn't process in her mind. Adrenaline was pumping through her and the only thing she could think about was getting her and Yeri the hell out of there.</p><p>She ran out to the car where Yeri was sitting in the front seat. She quickly unlocked the door and got into the driver's seat. Yeri was beginning to panic and her sister's frazzled state but Irene didn't answer any of her questions. She started the car and sped off before her mother's boyfriend could even see where she had gone. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>For a while, after they had landed in America, life was good. Irene had been accepted to a school in Southern California, so that's where they moved. She eventually started school, was living in an on-campus apartment with Yeri and had enrolled Yeri in school. They had to lay low for a couple of months to make sure that there were no police tracking them, but once she finally felt like they weren't closing in on them, she began to relax. </p><p>She was the happiest she had been in years. She had lost all hope of going to college years ago, because her mother's boyfriend always told her that he and her mother weren't going to pay for college, and as soon as she graduated high school she'd begin working a full-time job at some sort of restaurant or gas station to help support the family. Going to class and living on campus felt euphoric to her. She had worried for a little while that Yeri would be too homesick, and would be more unhappy here than back in Korea. But much like Irene, Yeri was thriving. She had seen Yeri smile more in the few months they'd been here than in the ten years she'd lived back in Korea. </p><p>They were dealing with a few problems though. The first problem, on-campus housing. Since no one else was supposed to be living with Irene she had to be very careful about who saw Yeri. Sometimes she could play it off to the campus staff that she was just visiting for a day or two. But when Yeri wasn't "visiting" she had to be very careful that none of the campus staff saw her. The second problem was the language barrier. Irene enrolled in college as a student with English as her second language, so she was required to take an English class. While this did help her a lot, it was still difficult to hold conversations with people and she often needed a translator. Irene wasn't too worried about this though, while her English wasn't good, she could speak enough for people to have a general understanding of what she was saying, and because she was in an English class and constantly surrounded by native English speakers she was learning more and more each day.</p><p> The third problem, however, was more important. Irene and Yeri needed new identities. Now that Irene had experienced how good life could be away from her mother and her boyfriend, she was determined more than ever that she would die before she went back to living with them. She decided that the best way to do this was to create a new identity. Irene had been born Bae Joohyun but used the name Irene when introducing herself to anyone. Yeri had been born with the name Yerim. When Irene told Yeri she had to choose a new name she wasn't happy about it. So she decided to just remove the 'm' from her name and go by Yeri. This was the only thing they could do to conceal their true identities. They didn't have visas or green cards, and Irene did everything she could to remain out of the way of the police. Irene made sure that anything surrounding their past or true identities was sealed up and airtight. She lied about her ethnicity, age, anything that would possibly hint at who she really was. In addition, she made sure that Yeri understood the importance of making sure she didn't reveal any incriminating information to her teachers or classmates.</p><p>Other than those problems, life in America was good for the first year, and then Yeri broke her leg.</p><p>Irene's blood still boils remembering what happened. Yeri's teacher told her a kid pushed her off one of the platforms on the playground. Even though the kid got suspended for a week she was still furious, and she grew even more furious with the kid for what happened next.</p><p>Yeri was taken to the hospital while Irene was still in class. She had to miss her last class of the day when she got the call from her teacher explaining what happened. When she got there the doctors explained that she would be fine, but they would have to do surgery on her leg for it to heal properly. Irene agreed immediately, anything to get Yeri back to living a normal life. </p><p>The surgery was a success, and the doctors told Irene that Yeri's leg would be fully healed in eight to ten weeks and that Yeri would need crutches for six of them. Irene breathed a sigh of relief. Yeri was going to be okay, Irene was going to be okay. They were going to okay. </p><p>And then Irene got the bill for Yeri's surgery. </p><p>Irene didn't have insurance. She and Yeri had no sort of health issues that required any sort of medication or regular check-ups, so she decided she'd invest in insurance once she had a stable income. So when she received the bill she was annoyed but wasn't really worried. Irene was irritated that she had to pay for surgery for an injury caused by a shitty little kid, but anything for her little sister. But when she went to check her funds, she realized how little money she had left. Because of college and Yeri, she decided not to work for a while, at least until she felt that Yeri was old enough to be left alone. She had originally estimated that she would have enough money to support herself and Yeri for a couple of years. But because of the unexpected costs of the surgery, it cut the amount of money she had left almost in half. After doing the math Irene realized that if she didn't somehow make twenty thousand dollars within the next two months, she would have to drop out of college, leaving her and Yeri homeless.<br/>
Irene tried to keep it cool in front of Yeri. She didn't want her worrying about anything aside from doing well, but her stomach was in knots constantly. How was she going to come up with that type of money in two months?</p><p>To make matters worse, the campus staff had realized that Yeri was not in fact "visiting" Irene, but that she was a permanent resident when they checked her apartment one day on a random drug search and found Yeri in her room. They were kind enough to not kick her out immediately. But they told Irene that Yeri had to be completely moved out by the end of the month or she'd be kicked out of her apartment. </p><p>Irene once again tried to keep it cool in front of Yeri, but whenever Yeri was asleep she would break down. On top of being low on funds, she was now faced with being evicted from her campus apartment. She didn't know what she was going to do. </p><p>One day, after a particularly stressful class, Irene broke down sobbing behind one of the buildings where she had class. She felt hopeless. She was running out of time and she saw no real solution to her problems. Suddenly she heard a soft voice ask her if she was okay. Surprised, she immediately began to wipe away her tears and looked up to see who was talking to her. To her surprise, it was one of her classmates. Irene wasn't really close with her, but she had been but in discussion groups with her and had talked to her briefly on occasion after class. She asked her if she was okay and what was wrong. Irene, for the sake of protecting herself and Yeri, kept almost every personal detail of her life a secret. But at that moment, feeling more hopeless than ever, she confided in her classmate.</p><p>Irene told her about her Yeri breaking her leg and how she lived on campus with her, and how if she didn't come up with money soon, she would have to drop out of college and she and Yeri would be homeless. Her classmate listened silently, rubbing Irene's shoulder comfortingly. Irene eventually pulled herself together and thanked her classmate for listening to her sob story, but that she didn't have to stick around, not wanting to embarrass herself any further. But when Irene looked up at her, her face was solemn.</p><p>She told Irene she felt sorry for her, she had been in a similar situation a while back and that she wanted to help her. But she also asked Irene how badly she needed that money. Irene furrowed her eyebrows, assuming she had made it perfectly clear how desperate she was. She assured her classmate she was willing to do almost anything if it meant she could stay in college and if she and Yeri weren't homeless. Her classmate told her that she had a way where she could easily come up with the amount of money she needed to solve her problems, but it wouldn't be easy or enjoyable. Irene hesitantly agreed to whatever she had in mind.</p><p>It turned out that Irene's classmate worked for an escort agency. When Irene learned this she immediately wanted to shoot the idea down. But her classmate explained that this was the best option aside from straight up prostitution. Her classmate explained that she had been kicked out by her parents when she was barely eighteen. Broke and alone, she was desperately searching for ways to make money when she stumbled upon escort services. It wasn't pleasant work by any means, and it could be extremely unsafe at times. But she was making enough money to pay her way through college and live comfortably. </p><p>Irene was still hesitant, but her classmate gave her her phone number and told her to call when she made up her mind. Irene took the weekend to think about her offer. Irene needed money, but she just wasn't sure if she was willing to be an escort in order to get it. But like she always did when she was met with a crossroads in her life, she thought of Yeri. </p><p>Yeri had been happier in the last year alone than she had ever been in the decade she lived with her mother and her boyfriend. Even when she broke her leg she was still cheerful. Yeri had freedom here, she was making friends and learning so much in school, even her teachers had commented to Irene how bright and smiley she was. Irene cried silently, disappointed in herself that she would even for a second think about sacrificing Yeri's happiness because of her own discomfort. Irene called her classmate by the end of the weekend and told her she would accept the job.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>It took Irene a while to get used to being an escort. She never truly was comfortable with it, but after doing it for some time she began to dread it a little less. While escorting wasn't prostitution,  there just as much, if not more weird clients to deal with. Even though Irene didn't like this line of work, she quickly became one of the most popular escorts under her agency for her good looks. She wasn't friends with any of the escorts, a lot of them were jealous of her for taking their regular clients. The only person she was friends with the company was her security, Jisung.</p><p> After one of her first appointments, she broke down crying in the back of the car that was sent for her. This was the first time she met Jisung, and though the security guards normally didn't interact with the girls, to her surprise he asked her what was wrong. She broke down and told him everything. About how she came here from Korea to escape her mother's boyfriend, about not being able to afford college, about how much she hated having to resort to being an escort to get by. She completely expected him to just ignore her, or at the most say something like "that's tough" and then just go back to ignoring her. But to her surprise, he turned into a fast food drive-in. He asked her what she wanted. Shocked, Irene hesitantly told him what she wanted and watched as he ordered for her and him. After getting their food, he parked in the parking lot and got out of the car. Irene watched anxiously as he walked towards the back door and opened it. He asked her if it was okay if he sat next to her, and she reluctantly agreed. Was he going to try to sleep with her too?</p><p>To Irene's surprise, he did just the opposite. As they sat in the back of the car eating, Jisung told her about all the girls he'd seen in her situation. Women forced into sex work because of an abusive husband, boyfriend, father, etc. Despite being a man himself, Jisung told her he hated men. He said he had seen too many women suffer at their hands, and that he got into this line of work to make sure that vulnerable women had someone looking out for them. He told Irene that if she ever needed anything at any point to let him know, he would take care of it. </p><p>Irene was touched. She had always felt anxious around men because of all the ones she'd met, the only one who ever treated her with respect was her father. She was also comforted by the fact that they were both Korean, and she could communicate with him better than she could with the other security guards. Irene was thankful she had someone looking out for her, and Jisung played a huge role in making sure Irene felt as safe as possible when she went to appointments. </p><p>Irene worked as an escort through the rest of college. And although she didn't like the work, her classmate was right. Shortly after starting as an escort she was able to rent an off campus apartment for herself and Yeri. By the time she was billed for her tuition, she was making more than enough to pay it off. She and Yeri were living more comfortably than they ever had in their lives. There were always times where Irene wanted to give up and quit her job as an escort, but she knew that wasn't an option. There was no other job available to her that would pay her as much as escorting did. She also had most of her appointments at night, which worked perfectly with her class schedule. As much as she wanted to quit, she knew that this was as good as it was going to get for her. At least she and Yeri were living well, and at least she had Jisung looking out for her. </p><p>A week before she graduated from college, Irene had an appointment. Originally, she expected it to a normal appointment, accompanying some random middle-aged man to some high-class party. But as she got in Jisung's car to go meet her client, he pulled into a dark alleyway, turned the car off and faced her. Originally she thought he was joking around and just being weird, and she told him to knock it off. But his face stayed hard and serious, and she began to get nervous, realizing he wasn’t joking. As they grew to be close friends, he knew how much being an escort scared her, and he would never joke about something so gravely serious to Irene. Irene's face began to drop, and she asked him what was wrong. </p><p>Jisung told Irene that the client she was going to meet was extremely dangerous. The client had a history of assaulting and behaving abusively towards the escorts he paid for. Escort companies had a three-strike system in place for their clients, and he had already reached two strikes. The escorts with a higher status than Irene refused to work with him, and she was one of the only escorts left that the company would allow being sent to him. Jisung's face softened when told her one of the only other escorts he had been friends with had been assaulted by him and later paid off by the company and the client to stay silent. The client, though horrible and abusive, had a seemingly endless supply of wealth, and so the company put up with him for that reason. </p><p>Jisung eventually pulled out of the alley and started driving to the client's house. As they drove, Irene stayed completely still and silent. Jisung turned to look at her, and the cold look on his face was replaced with one of concern. He placed his hand over hers, and Irene turned to face him. Jisung assured her that he wouldn't let anything happen to her, and he'd be outside if he needed her. Just then, they pulled up outside a beautiful mansion. As Irene was about to get out of her car, Jisung stopped her one last time. Irene turned to him and froze when she saw him holding a gun. He turned it upside down and handed it to her. He told her to put it in her purse, and only to use it if she felt truly in danger. Irene hesitantly took the gun and walked up to the house.</p><p>To Irene's surprise, the client wasn't at all what she thought he'd be. He was tall, skinny, good looking, and looked to be in his early to mid-thirties. From the way Jisung had described him, she expected that being in his very presence would make her skin crawl, but he was surprisingly friendly and charming, and Irene found herself comfortable in his presence. She was comforted even more by the fact that she wasn't alone with him, as maids and chefs were constantly around and waiting on the client and herself. Irene had dealt with many clients who had said and done things that deeply disturbed her, and this client was not one of them. She found herself having a surprisingly good time until they reached the end of the night.</p><p>As her time with the client came to a close, his demeanor changed completely. As that sat in the living room of the mansion, he started to make saying odd things and making disturbing requests. At first, they started mild, just asking Irene things that would make her eyebrows furrow, but she would brush it off. All of her clients her a little weird, and what he was saying wasn't weird enough to really bother her. But soon his requests started to get more and more strange and began to pick up traction. He began to move closer to Irene, and she began to notice that the maids and chefs who had been waiting on them all night were gone.</p><p> As he moved to sit right next to Irene, she stood up. She began to try and diffuse the situation, reaching for her purse and telling him she had to go. She even tried to convince him to let her leave by telling him he didn't have to pay, but he wasn't having it. His once cheerful and friendly demeanor had turned cold and aggressive. He lunged for Irene and she screamed as he grabbed her arms tightly. She tried desperately to get away from him, knocking over the plants and other decorative pieces in the room, but he was much stronger than her. Suddenly she heard the front door slam open and saw Jisung running over, yelling at the client to let go of her. He let go of Irene only to wrestle with Jisung. Irene scrambled to find her purse as she listened to the two men fight. Just as she found her purse she heard a loud thud. The client had knocked Jisung to the floor. Irene stood up, eyes wide as the client made a move towards her. As he charged towards her, Irene fumbled with her purse and pulled out the gun. Just as he was about to grab her once again, Irene held the gun up and pulled the trigger. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Irene felt as though she was outside of her body. She watched as the client lay motionless on the ground, the red spot in the center of his chest getting bigger. Jisung immediately got up and pulled her into a hug, repeatedly asking her if she was okay, but Irene wasn't listening. She could hear him, but she couldn't bring herself to respond. Irene had just killed a man. He was lying on the floor right in front of her, life completely gone from his eyes. </p><p>Everything after that was a blur. The maids and chefs from before came out and called the police to report what happened. When the police showed up, to her surprise, the police approached Jisung and called him a different name, calling him Seokjin. Irene turned to him, asking him why they were calling him that and how they knew him. </p><p>Jisung then revealed that his name wasn't actually Jisung, it was Seokjin. He explained that he was an undercover cop. He had gone undercover to catch the man that Irene had shot for sexual assault and drug-related crimes. Seokjin began profusely apologizing to Irene, telling her that none of their friendship was fake, and he had wanted to reveal his true identity for a long time. But Irene couldn't find it in herself to be angry, she just nodded in response, the shock still not allowing her to process anything. </p><p>The police approached her and led her to a police car, assuring Irene that she wasn't under arrest, and they just needed to take her down to the police station to ask her some questions, but Irene couldn't find it in herself to care. She sat in the back of the police car, staring blankly as she watched the police tape off the mansion, and interview the maids and staff that worked there. Ever since she had shot the man Irene was waiting for the feeling of horror and disbelief to set in, for her to break down in tears crying over the fact that she had taken another person's life, but she didn't. She had felt bad for killing him, but at the same time, she felt it was justified. The client had tried to assault her in the way he did other escorts, and Irene had defended herself. She remembered that as he attacked her, all she could think about is how similar it felt to when her mother's boyfriend tried to attack her when she and Yeri ran away from home. Irene realized she wasn't sad. For the first time in her life, she had actually stood up to a man who disrespected her, and she wasn't going to be sorry for doing what she had to do to protect herself. </p><p>After that, life began to move quickly for Irene. She graduated from college with a degree in Biology. She quit her job as an escort. The case involving her and the client was closed after an investigation confirmed that Irene had killed him in self-defense. The only problem that arose was the question of her citizenship and identity. She worried that this would become another problem for her to stress over, but to her surprise, Seokjin took care of it. He forged documents stating that she, along with Yeri were legal residents of the United States, and then later on after the case was closed, helped her get actual documents for herself and Yeri and they legally changed their names to Irene and Yeri. She was shocked, if it was ever found out what he had done for her, he would be fired and might even be put in prison. She scolded him for this, but he didn't care. Seokjin apologized to her again and begged her to forgive him. He told her that he wanted to tell her for so long, but if he did he would’ve compromised his position and possibly be killed if he was found out. Irene was angry for a while, but she came to forgive him. Seokjin had helped her so much during her time as an escort and he was the only person she trusted aside from Yeri. She told him she forgave him, and that she appreciated all he had done. So when Irene moved to Los Angeles for her new job, Seokjin decided to follow her, transferring to a station in the city. He was the closest friend she had,  and they both knew secrets about the other that could ruin their lives, and having the other close by would make it easier to protect each other. </p><p>In the following years, Irene would come to meet the girls she called family, Seulgi, Joy, and Wendy. Which brings her to here, the present-day. Irene, twenty-eight years old, living with her four women who she loved more than anything in the world, and still being close friends with the man who had helped make this life possible. She knew that without all the pain and suffering she endured, she would've never been able to meet her friends, the ones she held so close to her heart. But at the same time, despite how her life had changed for the better, she was still overcome with the sense that it would all be snatched away from her in an instant, and she didn't want to get comfortable loving a life she was sure as going to be taken from her. She had experienced more bliss and serenity in the past few years with her sister and her friends than she had in her whole life. But she was scared to enjoy it for fear that it would all dissolve into thin air.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2: A Half of One Whole</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>sorry this took me so long to post lmfao</p><p>TW// descriptions of domestic abuse</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Irene joined the other girls in the living room of their house for game night. They were all ready to start, they were just waiting on Yeri. </p><p>“She’s the one who insists on doing this every month and yet she’s always the one who’s late,” Joy scowled. “Relax, she’s probably just held up with the client, she’ll be here soon,” Wendy chided. She then turned to Irene. “Would you mind getting out the snacks? We’ll get an earful from Yeri if we aren’t ready by the time she gets back.” Irene nodded and got up to go to the kitchen.</p><p>She couldn’t have been in there for more than a few minutes before she heard the front door slam shut. She walked into the living room holding bowls of snacks ready to greet Yeri. “You’re late, as always,” she teased, setting the snacks down on the coffee table. “For someone who demands we do game night it sure seems like you never want to show up,” </p><p>“Unnie,” Seulgi said quietly, her face somber. Irene furrowed her brow as Seulgi gestured for her to look at Yeri. She turned around and when she looked at Yeri, the smile left her face as well.</p><p>In her hand, Yeri was holding three gigantic wads of cash, their shiny red business card, and a battered and worn picture of a man. He was clean-cut, had short brown hair, blue eyes, pale skin, and a small scar on his left cheek. After analyzing the items Yeri was holding, Irene looked up to see Yeri’s face. Her expression was cold and serious.</p><p>“We have a new client,” she said. </p><p>Wendy cleared her throat. “Who is he?” She asked.</p><p>“Robert Gates, 32, lives on 341 North Oak street,” Yeri answered, placing the items on the table and sitting in one of the chairs set up around the coffee table.</p><p>“Is that all you know about him?” Joy asked, raising an eyebrow.</p><p>Yeri let out a deep sigh, closing her eyes for a few seconds. “He’s also a cop,” she said. </p><p>The silence in the air was tangible.</p><p> </p><p>Oftentimes, when Irene struggled to sleep at night due to the constant knot in her stomach, and the ever so persistent fear of the dark, she thought of Yeri, Seulgi, Wendy, and Joy. She thought about the safety, comfort, and trust all five of them had that she had never experienced up until she had met them. It often unbelievable to her, the way all of them melded together so perfectly. And what was even more unbelievable was the way they all had come to be friends.</p><p>Shortly after Irene graduated college, she started working at a research lab. This was the first job in her life that she found herself actually enjoying. She was paid well, and she was working with people who were actually nice to her and respected her. It was here that she met Joy.</p><p>Joy was a prodigy and the talk of everyone in the lab. She was much younger than most of the people there but she was extremely intelligent and a hard worker. Irene was initially intimidated by her, questioning her own intelligence because of Joy’s accomplishments and reputations at such a young age. She was friendly and was close to most of the people in her lab, and also insanely beautiful.</p><p> Joy was everything Irene wished she was when she was younger. Pretty, smart, popular, and successful. She seemed so foreign to Irene, a type of person that seemed too perfect for this world. She didn’t really talk to Joy that much due to this, she felt like she and Joy were just too different from each other to ever be friends.</p><p>One day, Joy came into work. She came in at the same time she normally did, completed her work the way she usually did, and talked and laughed with their coworkers the way she always did. But Irene could tell something was off, and she seemed to be the only one who noticed it. Her normally jaw-dropping smile didn’t reach her eyes. Later in the day, Irene and Joy were tasked with testing different samples the lab needed results on by midnight. So while their coworkers all eventually trickled out of the lab, she and Joy stayed working late into the night. At one point, Joy reached for a beaker on Irene’s side of the table and accidentally knocked it onto the floor and it shattered. They both flinched at the sound but Irene noticed that Joy covered her head as she did. Irene didn’t mention it but took note of it. Suddenly, Joy began profusely apologizing and immediately got down onto her knees to clean up the glass. </p><p>Before Irene could say anything in protest, Joy had picked up a piece of glass and immediately cut her finger on it, hissing in pain. Irene told Joy to wait and ran over to the far end of the lab to get the first aid kit and a broom and dustpan. As she walked back, she saw Joy had rolled up the sleeves up the lab coat, revealing a massive bruise on her left forearm. As soon as Joy noticed her standing there she scrambled to pull her sleeves back down. Once again, Irene didn’t mention it, but took note of it. She just patted one of the chairs at the table they were working at, motioning for Joy to sit down so she could clean up her cut.</p><p>Joy obviously realized that the bruise looked suspicious. So as Irene cleaned her cut and bandaged it, Joy tried to explain it away. </p><p>“I tripped walking up the stairs at home and I fell right onto it,” she laughed. “I’m so stupid, shit like this happens to me all the time.”</p><p>Irene had to admit, Joy was very convincing. The cleverly crafted story about falling on the stairs was good, as it was one of the only ways a person could injure themselves like that on their forearm. The laughing seemed very genuine. And the way she brought it up was so casual that it didn’t seem like she was trying to hide anything at all. But Irene knew better.</p><p>She saw how quickly Joy had moved to cover up her bruise, in a manner that clearly showed an attempt at secrecy, how the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes when she laughed as she told Irene her version of what happened, the way her hands shook the entire time she was cleaning and bandaging her cut. These behaviors, along with the fact that Joy just didn’t seem to be herself that day, reminded Irene of the lies she’d tell to friends, teachers, and acquaintances when she still lived with her mother and her abusive boyfriend. </p><p>After she bandaged Joy’s cut and they had finished testing the samples, Irene and Joy locked the lab up for the night and said their goodbyes. At her apartment, she found Seokjin asleep on the couch and Yeri wide awake, still watching TV and scrolling on her phone. Yeri was fourteen now and insisted to Irene several times that she didn’t need a babysitter, and made her point by tiring Seokjin out by being as difficult as possible. Irene rolled her eyes at how easily Seokjin had been tired out by Yeri. She immediately sent Yeri off to bed and shook Seokjin awake, mocking him for letting Yeri get the best of him once again. She stayed up with him for a while, talking about her day, and it struck Irene to tell him about the situation that happened with Joy, but she hesitated. She often had the tendency to project her own trauma onto other people, Seokjin told her. She’d see women in restaurants arguing with their boyfriends over what to eat and immediately get upset, or she’d see fathers of little girls scolding them for not looking both ways before crossing the street and her day would be ruined. Not everyone had abusive relationships with men, Irene had to remind herself. And if Seokjin, someone who had seen the worst men could possibly be was telling her this too, then she had to learn to relax.</p><p>But still, she couldn’t get Joy out of her head. So at the risk of sounding paranoid, she told Seokjin what had happened. Who Joy was, how she seemed detached from herself all day, and about the flinching, shaking, and the giant bruise on her arm. She also told him that Joy said she had tripped while walking up the stairs as well. Irene was fully ready for Seokjin to give her another lecture about projecting her trauma onto other people, and telling her she needed to work on not seeing everyone as a victim. But to her surprise, Seokjin agreed with her that something was wrong.</p><p>Irene asked him if there was anything that he could do, like possibly talking to her and taking a statement, but Seokjin said that shouldn’t be her first resort, or else she might scare Joy away. Since Irene and Joy weren’t very close and Irene was seemingly the only person who noticed that something was wrong, Seokjin suggested that Irene should just keep a closer eye on Joy, and watch closely for the next time she behaves concerningly, so Irene did. But after that night at work, Joy seemingly went back to being her normal self. She seemed engaged, focused, and talkative. It was almost like that night in the lab with Irene never happened, and Irene worried that she had just made up everything she saw in her head. But two months later, something changed.</p><p>Late one night, Irene, Joy, and another coworker were once again testing samples late into the night. They had split the work into thirds, those who finished early could go home as soon as they were done. Joy was the first to finish. She grabbed her coat and purse from the lounge area and waved goodbye to Irene and the other coworker. Irene finished up just 10 minutes later, walking out of the door and through the lab’s parking lot to get to the bus stop. But as she walked, she noticed Joy standing in front of a large black van. She was about to call out to her when she saw a large man with short black hair get out of the car, and approach Joy. The man immediately began yelling at her, and Irene crouched behind one of the few cars left in the lot to observe. Joy yelled back at the man, and while she couldn’t exactly make out what they were saying, she pieced together that the man was upset at Joy for getting off of work later than she said she would, and Joy was defending herself. While the conversation made Irene upset, she realized that there really wasn’t anything she could do, as the argument between them was trivial. She got up to walk away but just as she did, the large man got up in Joy’s face and punched her, hard. </p><p>Irene’s mouth dropped, and she almost screamed, but fearing that would make the situation worse, she did her best to keep quiet. </p><p>Joy barely made a sound as she fell to the ground, her hand coming up to clutch the left side of her face in pain. The man scowled, got into the van, and pulled out of the parking lot, nearly running Joy over in the process. After Irene was sure he was out of range to see her, she ran over to Joy, yelling her name repeatedly and asking if she was alright. Joy didn’t respond.</p><p>She finally reached Joy and knelt down next to her. Irene placed her hand on her shoulders, asking her if she was alright again, and trying to scan what she could see of Joy’s face since she was still clutching the left side of her face. Joy’s eyes were wide and she didn’t respond to any of Irene’s questions. She could see blood beginning to drip out of Joy’s mouth. After what felt like forever of Irene trying to get a response from her Joy looked up and made eye contact with her. “Irene unnie?” She said, her words distorted by the blood filling her mouth. Then, Joy’s eyes went wide again, and she reached two fingers into her own mouth. Irene’s brows furrowed. Joy pulled her fingers back out, balled her fist, and revealed two teeth that had fallen out. Suddenly, Joy’s eyes glazed over and she fell unconscious against Irene. This time, Irene screamed.</p><p> </p><p>Joy had regained consciousness in the ambulance. Irene knew that being taken to a hospital was probably the last thing she wanted but she didn’t know what else to do, and she most definitely didn’t want to wait around for the guy in the black van to show up again. Joy mumbled incoherently, and the two EMTs both glanced at Irene from where they were working to drain the blood out of Joy’s mouth. Irene realized that they probably thought they were friends, and that she should say something to her, but Irene just didn’t have the words. They drove to the hospital in silence. </p><p>Joy was going to be fine, the doctors said. She had temporarily lost consciousness to the force of the blow, and she needed her teeth reimplanted and wouldn’t be able to eat normally for several weeks, but she would survive. When the doctors asked her what happened, Joy told them that she had run into a lamp post. They released her, and by the time she had been all cleaned up, it was two in the morning.</p><p>Irene knew she should’ve gone home after Joy was taken inside the hospital. But instead, she texted Seokjin and asked him if he could stay the night to watch Yeri, telling her that something had happened with Joy. He agreed, and Irene spent the next four hours waiting in the lobby. She and Joy made eye contact as she walked out into the lobby, and Joy tried to speed walk out of the hospital without talking to Irene. But Irene jumped up from her seat and followed her into the hospital parking lot where she grabbed Joy’s arm. </p><p>Joy was clearly upset. She begged Irene to let her go and forget that tonight ever happened but Irene couldn’t. She had a horrible feeling that if she let Joy go that something horrible was going to happen to her. Irene pleaded for Joy to tell her who the man was and he had hit her, but Joy refused to say. And even though Irene just barely knew Joy, she would’ve done anything at that point to keep her from going home that night. So as Joy finally escaped her grasp, she told Joy that she didn’t have to go home, and that she could spend the night at her place if she wanted to. And that made Joy stop in her tracks.</p><p> </p><p>The man who hit Joy, as it turned out, was her boyfriend. Her high school sweetheart, if you could even call him that. He was an unemployed alcoholic who liked to use her as his personal punching bag, both physically and emotionally. That night he had been angry with her for getting off of work late, as Irene had heard them argue about. And as he did when he was frequently upset, he took it out on Joy. </p><p>It wasn’t as difficult as Irene originally thought it would be to get this information out of her. She even woke up Seokjin when they got home the same night so they could both try to convince her to come clean since she expected Joy to put up a hell of a fight. But it was clear that Joy was suffering, and looking back on it now, Irene thinks she might have confessed this because Joy thought that her days were numbered.</p><p>Irene was no stranger to the toll that abuse could take on a person. But she couldn’t help herself from wondering why Joy stayed with him. She wasn’t financially dependent on him, seeing as she was the one in the relationship who made money for the both of them. She didn’t have any kids to worry about either. Why did Joy stay?</p><p>She asked her this one day sitting in a cafe, about a week after the visit to the hospital. She worried Joy might take offense to this, but instead, Joy smiled sadly, and replied, “I don’t think I can do any better than him.”</p><p>Her response broke Irene’s heart, but it also made her hate herself. Ever since she had started working at the lab she had envied Joy, thinking that she had a perfect life. On the outside, she was everything Irene had ever wanted to be, and Irene thought for so long that the two of them were too different to ever have anything in common. But Joy’s life wasn’t nearly as picture-perfect as Irene imagined it was, and Irene was kicking herself for being so presumptuous. Joy was a survivor, just like her.</p><p>Joy and Irene grew closer and eventually became friends after this incident. All the while Irene begged her to leave her abusive boyfriend. Seokjin, who had grown to be friends with Joy as well, told her that if she reported him to the police that there was a strong case against him and that he’d likely go to jail. Joy resisted this for a while, refusing to give up her boyfriend. Her hesitance was due to fear and a misplaced sense of loyalty to him, Seokjin told her. But still, Irene persisted. Throughout their friendship, Irene had seen Joy come to work or visit her at her apartment attempting, but ultimately failing to hide bruises and cuts. But one day, about a year after she had started working at the lab with Joy, she came to Irene’s house in tears.</p><p>Irene was shocked. Even on the day Joy had her teeth knocked out by her boyfriend, she never cried when talking about the abuse she endured. She talked about her boyfriend pushing her, punching her, and throwing her down stairs like it was nothing. So Irene knew she was at her breaking point when she threw herself against Irene, sobbing into her shirt. </p><p>After Irene had brought her into her apartment, sat her down, and let her cry it out all over her shirt, Joy looked at Irene with puffy, red, tear-filled eyes.</p><p>“Unnie,” she said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. “I’m going to die. He’s going to kill me, it’s just a matter of time.” </p><p>Irene just stroked Joy’s hair, unsure of how to respond. On one hand, she found herself, unfortunately, agreeing with Joy. She had watched as Joy’s bruises and cuts got even bigger and deeper. And though Joy tried to hide it, she saw how there was no light behind her eyes anymore. Her smile didn’t reach her eyes, her laughs were forced, and when she thought no one was looking, she’d roll up her sleeves, and obsess over the bruises and scars left on her legs from her boyfriend’s beatings. He was killing her mentally, and now it was only a matter of time before he actually took her life. </p><p>But on the other hand, Irene had been by Joy’s side the whole time, here and ready to help. And though Irene felt disheartened at times when Joy continuously rejected her help, she’d always be there. She hadn’t known Joy very long. But she knew she would do anything to protect her. </p><p>Hesitantly, Irene asked Joy if she was finally ready to accept her help. Irene told Joy that she’d always be here if she needed her, but that she couldn’t help her if she didn’t want it. Irene wanted to see Joy live a happy life. She wanted to see Joy laugh and smile, and wanted her to know that being abused by her boyfriend wasn’t the life she deserved.</p><p>Irene told her that if Joy wanted, she could move in with Irene and Yeri, and that Seokjin would help her put her boyfriend behind bars. Irene watched Joy’s face, waiting for the moment where she refused Irene’s help, got up, and went back home to her boyfriend. But to Irene’s surprise, Joy said yes.</p><p>With Irene’s help loading up boxes and Seokjin acting as lookout, they completely moved all of Joy’s stuff from her and her boyfriend’s apartment the next day, and she officially moved in with Irene. She also finally met Yeri, and they immediately clicked. But it wasn’t all perfect. Joy was still scared that her boyfriend would find her, and she had to get a completely new phone due to him constantly calling and texting Joy, and both Irene and Joy worried that he’d somehow figure out how to track her through her phone. </p><p>But Seokjin was quick to take care of him. With his help, Joy filed a police report with Seokjin’s police department and he made sure that the investigation was launched as soon as possible. It was cut and dry, as Irene had done a thorough job of documenting Joy’s abuse and served as a witness. Her boyfriend was arrested, and before they could even go to trial for his case, he took a plea, and Seokjin told both Joy and Irene that he wouldn’t be getting out any time soon.</p><p>And for the first time since Irene had met Joy, she had finally relaxed. She was safe. She no longer had to live every day fearing that it would be her last. She was finally free.</p><p>Joy living with Irene was supposed to be temporary, but neither of them seemed to want her to move out. They got along well, Joy helped around the house, and she and Yeri had grown to be close friends too. There was no reason for her to leave, so she didn’t. And that’s how Irene acquired Joy.</p><p> </p><p>Irene felt complete. She had Yeri, Seokjin, and now Joy. Irene had gathered her own little family completely by accident and she felt like they were the only people she would ever need to feel sane. But her little family wasn't done growing yet, and about two years after meeting Joy, she met Seulgi.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>hope you enjoyed :)</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i hope you enjoyed :}</p></blockquote></div></div>
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